Cirrus Logic Debuts New Maverick MP3 Chip

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In but its third generation, the MP3 audio codec may have reached the end of its evolution, according to executives at Cirrus Logic.

Cirrus, announced its new EP7409 Maverick chip on Monday. The chip integrates virtually all of the functions necessary for MP3 playback, reducing the physical size of the player by eliminating board space. Power consumption has about doubled, as well.

By integrating a digital-to-analog converter (DAC), the amplifier, and assorted glue logic, Cirrus has essentially run out of functions to build into the Maverick line. The company’s future products will be based upon nothing but process shrinks, unless new functions like Bluetooth need to be included.

“In the future, there will be nothing left to integrate,” said John Woosley, business development manager at Cirrus in Austin, Tex.

Cirrus defines its EP7409 as being part of the third-generation of codecs, defined as much by the functions it integrates as well as the characteristics of the player.

While Cirrus believes current second-generation players require about 60 sq. centimeters of board space and require $100 worth of components, the third-generation players built around the EP7409 will require only $69 worth of components and 42 sq. cm of board space. Of that, about $32 will go towards 64 Mbytes of flash memory, Woosley said. Third-generation players should also consume about 150 milliwatts, compared with 280 mW in the second generation.

“If you look at players today and open them up, they may have two, maybe three PCBs sandwiched together,” Woosley said. “We can eliminate those.” The EP7409’s 12-mm x 12-mm die ships within a 144-ball TFBGA package.

While the decline in the Napster service may have dampened the ability to trade MP3 files, analysts say that the demand for MP3 players is as hot as ever. Mercury Research Corp, says 5 million MP3 players will be sold during 200, increasing to about 17 million by 2004.

The EP7409 is made up of two main cores: a 74-MHz ARM7TDMI core tied to 8Kbits x32 of embedded RAM, with a 160-bit MaverickKey identifier; and an audio accelerator, containing a 24-bit audio DSP, instruction and data caches consisting of 4 Kbits x32 and 8 Kbits x24, together with 16 Kbits x24 of embedded ROM. The MaverickKey is a core designed for content protection, using 132 bits for the SDMI algorithm and 28-bits as a unique identifier. The entire chip is driven by a single integrated silicon crystal.

The DSP can generate two MAC instructions or either two adds, index increments or data moves per clock cycle. The core can calculate a 128-point FIR operation in 64 cycles, Cirrus claims, using eight 24-bit data registers and eight 56-bit accumulators.

The 32-Kbyte “soft cache” can also use the page memory of NAND flash, instead of the traditional NOR flash, Woosley said. This can save the designer additional power and money, should he or she choose to include it.

Since the DSP is programmable, Cirrus simply has to license an available codec and design software for it. The company currently supports MP3, AAC, Windows Media Player, and over 17 more. Woosley said the company is looking at the MP3 Pro and Ogg Vorbis audio standards, and will evaluate the need to support those standards. The EP7409 has real-time MP3 encode capability as well.

Woosley said Cirrus believes it holds one more trump card: its first integrated PWM amplifier. Woosley said that an integrated amplifer is better for the same reason that a switched power amplifier is better than a linear one: less wasted heat. The 24-bit PWM achieves 90 percent efficiency, Woosley said, extending battery life by ten hours alone. The PWM is rated at 80 dB total harmonic distortion plus noise (THD+N).

The EP7409 will cost $15.85 each for sample lots of 10,000 units, beginning in the third quarter. Production is slated for the fourth quarter of this year.

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